Alpa Language VSCode Extension

This is a minimal VSCode extension providing basic syntax highlighting and language configuration for the Alpa language.

How to run locally:

1. Open this folder in VSCode.
2. Press F5 to launch the Extension Development Host.
3. Open a file with extension .alpa to see syntax highlighting.

Commands included:

Keybinding:

This extension aims to give you a pleasant editing experience for the Alpa programming language.

About Alpa

Alpa is a small, educational language used in this project for demos and teaching. The VSCode extension focuses on editor ergonomics: syntax highlighting, semantic tokens, CodeLens run buttons above func declarations, and a small integration that runs print(...) calls from the file through a local runner.

Features

• Syntax highlighting (TextMate grammar + semantic tokens)
• Theme optimized for Alpa files
• File icon for .alpa files (enable when prompted)
• CodeLens "Run" above func definitions to run the file or a specific function (uses the repository tools/run-alpa.cjs runner)
• Snippet insertion and a small demo command

Install locally on macOS

1. Build a VSIX from the extension folder (requires vsce):

# from the `vscode-alpa` folder
npm install -g vsce
npm run package

2. In Finder, double-click the generated vscode-alpa-0.0.3.vsix to open in VS Code, or use the command line:

code --install-extension vscode-alpa-0.0.3.vsix

3. If macOS blocks the install or Safari/Downloads shows a security warning, right-click the .vsix and choose "Open" or install from within VS Code (Extensions view -> ... -> Install from VSIX...).

Publishing to the Marketplace

1. Create a publisher and get a Personal Access Token (PAT) from the Visual Studio Marketplace.
2. Install vsce and run:

npm install -g vsce
vsce login <publisher>
vsce publish

See Visual Studio Code docs for packaging and publishing if you need guidance.

Troubleshooting macOS install issues

• If the VSIX install fails with permission or code-signing errors, install via the code CLI (code --install-extension) instead — it bypasses macOS Gatekeeper UI.
• If the extension activates but CodeLens doesn't appear: open the Alpa Runner output channel (View > Output) and check for errors.
• If file icons don't appear, accept the prompt to enable the Alpa File Icons theme or set workbench.iconTheme to alpa-file-icons in Settings.

Notes

This extension ships a small helper runner (tools/run-alpa.cjs) that extracts print(...) calls; it's not a full interpreter. If you want a proper runtime, we can add a small interpreter later.

If you want, I can build the VSIX here and attach it in the repo, or prepare a Marketplace-ready release (I will need your publisher name and PAT to publish).